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Wednesday, September 5, 2012

insanity, the sheriff's offenders registry, "forcible touching"

I have to keep this in general terms, just the facts. There is a person in our neighborhood who is creepy as hell. He has pestered us for years, in eccentric ways. He looks and acts homeless and insane, but he is, in fact, extremely well educated and wealthy enough to retire early and pay his bills.

Another neighbor asks the wife last month if he is ...? My wife assures her he is seemingly harmless.

Last week he is in the dumpster behind his apartment, seemingly sitting there and eating a pizza.

Yesterday we are walking our dog, and he accosts us and begins talking about taxes. Later I hear neighbors talking about the "stalker". He comes up to people and stares at them. He hangs around where one neighbor works, scaring the heck out of her. Apparently, he was outside the window of another neighbor for some time. When she asked what he was doing, he said her plants were dead. I realize I know who this stalker is, the same person who creeps us out, and with all these people's stories, you go from one odd piece of the pie to a whole gigantic pie with a lot of crazy stories.

OK, a little oddness, a small town has plenty of it. I, for example, have a pink robot on my tee shirt today.

I am walking down the street just now and see this individual 100 feet ahead of me, step in front of a woman. She steps around him and he grabs her backside and squeezes it as she tries to pass him. She whips around and speaks sharply to him, he disappears into his apartment. I catch up to her and ask if she is calling the police, I will witness, and she says NO, not this time, she warned him, but had never seen him before, who is this guy? (a quick look shows he is not on our sheriff's county offender registry)

I am so furious I could spit.

On the weekend somebody forcibly touched 2-3 women on campus over the course of 2-3 hours before raping a woman. None of these women had seen the person before. I am not saying, of course, that this neighborhood eccentric had anything to do with those events, but I am trying to say that the person who thinks it OK to grab somebody, a stranger no less, especially in that way, may or may not escalate in the coming days.

IN any case, I do NOT like to be near people, I do NOT like to be touched and he has been a problem in my space as well. I do not know how people think they can touch other people, people they do not know, people who have not invited that person closer, but next time I see this person I am firmly and furiously telling him he is to never come near US again, and exactly why, and that the police will be called.

***update later Wednesday: somebody else filed a complaint about this person after these events with the state police and also the postal police (because of activity also on postal property) and I have been asked to talk to the police this afternoon about what I have seen.

*** further update: the troopers took a report from another woman this afternoon (I was not called upon in the end) about his actions towards her: the woman I saw is from another country and does not want to file anything, but because of this, others have stepped forward and called the troopers with their own incidents...and the harrasser has been warned by the troopers....of course, he is still walking in circles around the center of the village and when I was walking the dog just now he was following me at a distance, which is not unusual.....

20 comments:

I felt sick reading this Gary, how horrible. I am sitting here wishing the woman who was forcefully touched had called the police asap. I hope something is done quickly to remove this person from the neighborhood and to where he obviously needs to be. After I got done reading some national news this morning and reading of an innocent child being killed trying to protect his sister from an assailant, I want to move far, far away. Please be careful!!

I would approach the police, maybe not with a formal complaint but asking if there is anything that can be done to stop the harassing behavior. If you can bring in some of your neighbors also I'm sure it would help your case.

Mental illnesses prevent many from dealing with social situations appropriately. Not to make excuses for him, but if he's alone, there may be no one there to see he has an illness may be progressing beyond the point where he can function in society. If that's the case, explaining to him probably won't be effective and law enforcement may be necessary to begin the process of getting help he may need to deal with an illness. You can report what you witnessed to police even though the woman doesn't want to. It's a difficult situation. Take care.

Ditto what Sue and Cheri said. Glad you posted this. When a guy with an unstable history (including some preying upon women) showed up at church one day...someone sent copies of a small town news article about him to everyone in the congregation, and our Board went to work on how to deal with being an inviting congregation as well as how to help everyone feel safe there. Talking about it in public (without mentioning him of course) became enough for him to go elsewhere... The guy you're talking about needs help BEFORE he hurts someone.

Yes, call the police and tell them what you saw. When I had drug dealing neighbors I learned that it's good to call the police so that they have a record. This also helps to get more patrols in your area and alerts them to a possible problem before it gets much, much worse. I would caution you against dealing with an obviously crazy person on your own. At best this guy is just off his meds, at worst....well, let's not go there. Be careful!

Well done Gary! Yes, you should report what you witnessed and other incidents, if any. I hope he gets help before it's too late. This behavior left unchecked tends to escalate.Take care.....it really sucks that I have to say take care in your own neighborhood...but do take care!

I don't know if your town has a mental health advocate (In Burlington, Vermont, they have a guy that hangs out in the streets checking on people with mental challenges, etc.) If so, might be worth a check there. OTW, maybe a call to the cops with a concern would be OK. But this is a difficult situation. Your town is lucky to have people like you who care.

He may be either schizophrenic or bi-polar (or some variation thereof) and perhaps is off his medication (if he was ever on any). But sounds like you're heading in the right direction - perhaps a 72 hour stay in the local State facility is in order.

With a husband in law enforcement, I have to thank you for doing the right thing and reporting this individual. He deals with so many violent crimes where had the person been reported before the crimes escalated, many victims would have been spared terrible trauma. IMHO, everyone has a responsibility to care and report early. Good work Gary!

I agree with the other commenters. I've dealt with people like this and they do escalate. In a weird way, he's crying for help. Adult Protective Services may be another option, but reporting your observations to the police is a very good start at getting him the help he needs.

Glad there was follow-through. My nephew would be 38 this year if a creepy neighbor hadn't gotten to him at age 9. The murderer was caught by the police going door to door asking if there was anyone in the neighborhood who seemed weird, creepy, made them nervous. Good on you.